Happy Birthday Celebration!!

Hello and welcome to another work week everyone, lol!  Sometimes the weekends go by wayyyy too fast I tell ya!  Ours was jam-packed and busy but fun!  I posted on both Saturday and Sunday so you can read all about our adventures on the posts below if you like!  I'm typing up this post at 1 am in the morning after finalizing the Sept/Oct. issue of the Through the Craftroom Door magazine that my pal Marti and I started in April.  Each issue gets larger and larger and the next issue is a Special Holiday Publication which will go out in October---that will be a whopping 22 pages (the largest so far for us) and jam packed full of Fall and Winter Holiday projects and ideas!  If you are interested in seeing what we're all about you can visit the website HERE!  And we're always looking for submissions of any kind of handmade crafts from everyone--submit your project at craftdoor@yahoo.com anytime!  We are not just a papercrafting publication, we welcome crafting of all types so don't be afraid to submit to us---we WANT to see your gorgeous projects in print!

NewsBitz:

-I have been very negligent in announcing the last two Blog Candy winners (gasp-smack me)!  So without further ado I have listed them below for you!  Both winners please email me with your addresses so I can get your goodies out to you asap!

-Winner of the Magnolia "Southern Gal" Blog Candy (see this post) is Mary Lou of Mary Lou's Corner (hey that's my friend Kim G's sweet mom, lol)
-Winner of the Magnolia "Nautical Hop" Blog Candy (see this post) is Regina of Handmade by Regina

-Want to keep up to date on where I will be traveling when I take the Color Me Creative Classroom on the road?  The new website is CMC-On the Road at www.cmcroad.com--I will be updating it lots in the next week with upcoming locations so keep a lookout!  Also join in on my new CMC Copic Challenge Group at the Color Me Creative Classroom (anyone can join--join the main site and then click on GROUPS to join the challenge group)--we'd love to see you over there!  Check out the NEW Cricut Classes there too!

***************************************************

Birthday Celebration Blog Hop!!

**Warning:  This Post is long, full of pictures and goodies, lol**
Blog Hop Starts at 4 am EST!!

Today the Magnolia-licious DT is having a fun-filled Birthday Celebration Blog Hop to celebrate the lovely Diana Crick's birthday this month!  All the projects you will see today on the hop all all Birthday Themed and full of fun and inspiration!  You can find all the details about the hop and how to join in the fun at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog HERE!  If you are coming to me from Patti Jo's Blog then you're on the right track!

I cheated just a bit (please forgive me, hee hee)--we were supposed to create a birthday card and altered item and I got a little carried away!!  I decided to create a Oriental Themed Birthday Celebration Party Pack!!  I just adore the new little "Chinese Tilda" on my project (although she could be used for Japanese too in my humble opinion, lol) and I couldn't help but make some fun party projects.  I LOVED doing themed parties for my kids when they were little and I always got carried away (big surprise, no?) and now that they are bigger I don't get that chance as much!  Find all the NEW Bon Voyage Magnolia stamps at Magnolia-licious HERE (lots of kids from around the world that will melt your heart)!!

For my party celebration I created some fun Chinese Lanterns that I found online directions for HERE--very easy to make and alter the size of.  The green lantern was embossed with my "cherry blossom" CB folder before putting together--both got strips of patterned paper around the top, matching handles and some flowers that I made with my Nellie Snellen paper punches (email if you're interested in these).  These would be super cute with tea lights inside of them at every place setting--favors that your guest could take home.  The scrolls on the lanterns and cards were done with my super fave Marianne Designs dies (see here for US & here for overseas).

The entire project's color scheme got started with some beautiful papers I have from Memory Box called "Gossamer"--I loved the soft colors and pattern paper that had the flowering tree on it.  And this cute "Chinese Tilda" is just to-die-for fabulous!  I was inspired by her parasol so I made a fan flower that replicates the shape using my Scor-Pal & tape (see a tutorial here) and added it to the bow made with my Bow Easy.  Again the scrolls were made with the same die that I used above and then I added a button with a large pearl atop of the flower.

She's colored with Copics of course (R83,R81,RV10/YG03,YG00,YG0000, C's for hair).  I also added some W3 & W1 to gray/shadow parts of the image.  I added some stardust stickles to a few areas for bling and then some Viva Decor Pearl Pen (in Ice White) to the very tips of her parasol and the centers of the cherry blossoms on her dress/kimono.

 You can't have a Birthday Party without invitations right?  So I found a fabulous online tutorial (see here) that showed how to make these fun kimono shaped invites!  (I have no idea if kimono is Chinese or Japanese so just go with the Oriental Over-all Theme, 'kay?)!!  These are easy to make and mass produce making them perfect party invites.  I made mine out of pink PTI cs first and then added my patterned paper, strips of green cs for trim and an obi sash (it's a belly band that slips off) to keep it closed.  The pearls on the collar were done with the same Viva Decor Pearl Pen and then I inked all the edges with pink ink.

When you open the kimono by slipping off the decorated obi sash you see the party details inside.  Obviously you can make them larger and more detailed than I have, but mine is just a fun example!  The Obi Sash was decorated with a strip of ribbon tied off in a flat knot and then I added small scrolls from the same die I've been using from Marianne Designs.

And last but not least we have some YUMMERS to eat at the party!  Mine is Edy's Vanilla Bean ice cream with pink sugar sprinkles in some beautiful antique gold-rimmed dessert cups I have (thanks Mom)!  I used the same directions as above to create a larger fan flower---this time I used a border punch on the edge first and gathered it around a candy stick (I buy bags of them at Michaels) to make a fun Parasol Treat Stick.  Doesn't that look so pretty and think how nice a bunch of these would look on a table for a party!  Delish and Cute!

**Can't have a Birthday without PRESENTS right?  Well, I've got some to share with you!  Tell me what AGE your favorite birthday was by this Friday and you could win 2 NEW Bon Voyage Magnolia Stamps (your choice), Gossamer pack of Memory Box paper, a Viva Decor Pearl Pen and a pack of Pink Paislee Artisan Scrolls!!

Okay I'm sure I've taken up enough of your time here and you've got lots more hopping to do---so your NEXT STOP is ANGIE and I know she'll have something spectacular to share with you all!  Happy Birthday to our sweet Diana as well!!